Alexander Munro (1825 - 1871)

The son of a dyer in Inverness, Alexander Munro was born in 1825. He attended the local Academy and through the patronage of the Duchess of Sutherland, was employed by the architect Charles Barry as a carver at the new Palace of Westminster. Entering the Royal Academy Schools in 1847, he met Millais and Rossetti.

His first exhibits at the Royal Academy in 1849 were portrait busts, the first of many genre subjects, often with a literary flavour, that complemented Pre-Raphaelite interests. It is thought likely that he inadvertently revealed the meaning of the initials P. R. B. to a journalist in 1850.

'Paolo and Francesca', shown in plaster at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and in marble at the Royal Academy in 1852, is usually cited as the most important single piece of Pre-Raphaelite sculpture; it was bought by William Gladstone, who later became Prime Minister.

From 1852 to 1858 Munro shared a house and studio with Arthur Hughes, and remained on friendly terms with the Pre-Raphaelites. In 1855 he accompanied Rossetti on a trip to Paris, and he visited Italy three times, in 1858, 1861 (with his new wife Mary Carruthers) and 1863, with Hughes. He executed a good deal of public sculpture, including a series of statues in Oxford University Museum (1856 onwards), and was involved in the Oxford Union decoration of 1857. His health deteriorated in 1865 and six years later he died in Cannes, France.